In Philadelphia, PA, the Green Party’s 2012 Vice Presidential candidate is taking a leading role in public school parents’ challenges to high stakes standardized testing. Cheri Honkala, the parent of a child in the Philadelphia public school system, is also the national coordinator of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign.

In October, Honkala sent and published a letter to the principal of her son’s school requesting that he receive permission to opt-out of a number of state-mandated standardized tests. She wrote that “standardized testing is against our religious and philosophical beliefs.” Opting out of the tests would “allow [her son] to pursue other educational activities such as independent reading, book reports, research projects, volunteering in the library, etc.” Several weeks later, Honkala and her organization followed up by participating in a forum on standardized testing at Philadelphia City Hall.

Recently, organizing and publicity surrounding high stakes testing in Philadelphia has started garnering more attention. Last week, Honkala participated in a public forum on opting out of the tests. The “Test-In” was put together by a coalition of organizations in Philadelphia, including the Caucus of Working Educators, Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, Teacher Action Group, Philadelphia Student Union, Parents United for Public Education, & Action United. The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign is also part of the coalition.

The Examiner gave some context to the meeting:
“The Opt-Out movement is growing in Philadelphia. After parents and teachers took a stand against standardized testing at Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences, there has been an informational informal meeting about how parents can opt out hosted at the district-wide Home and School Association and several articles written about the movement itself. Superintendent Hite just recently gave a statement that the School District of Philadelphia will make sure that parents receive information about their opt out options. The national outcry against testing and the inherent flaws are not limited to Philadelphia or the surrounding suburbs, but are evident in New York City and Chicago too. The fear and intimidation surrounding testing can render parents, teachers, and administrators silent and powerless, but now there is another opportunity to be informed of the opt out process that is available in Pennsylvania.”

Meanwhile, in a story that Honkala linked on her Facebook profile, the Washington Post is reporting that in nearby New York state, 60,000 students opted out of similar testing in 2014. For Honkala and PPEHRC, this is one more in a line of fights surrounding public education in Philadelphia. Last year, Honkala was arrested in an act of civil disobedience defending her son’s elementary school from being one of dozens closed by the school district.

More recently, the Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP, www.gpop.org) has nominated Kristin Combs for City Council. Combs is competing against Republicans for one of two seats that must go to a minority party. She is a public school teacher and advocate against the ongoing cuts to Philadelphia public schools. Her education platform, which is central to her campaign, states that “every school aged child deserves access to a meaningful public education, and Philadelphia’s current climate does not allow for this.” Stay tuned for more on Combs’s campaign.

On the evening of February 25, the members of the Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP, www.gpop.org) met at the Philadelphia Ethical Society on Rittenhouse Square to elect a new City Committee for 2015.

Glenn Davis of Haddington (Ward 4), the incumbent Chair of GPOP, was re-elected to that office. Two other incumbent officers were also re-elected: Hillary Kane of Cedar Park (Ward 46) as Treasurer; and Eric Hamell of Germantown (Ward 59) as Membership Secretary. The three City Committee Members at Large will be Chris Robinson from Germantown (Ward 59); Julian Robinson from Cedar Park (Ward 46); and Galen Tyler from Holmesburg (Ward 64). Chris Robinson and Galen Tyler were incumbents re-elected to the same office.

Green Chair Glenn Davis, explained, “I would like to see the GPOP City Committee continue as a team effort to build our party’s membership. I also plan to bring new people into our active organization by mentoring new leadership. As our party grows, we will begin to appoint our own ward leaders and committee people.”

Eric Hamell offered these thoughts on his re-election, “As GPOP Membership Secretary I intend to explore new and creative, evidence-based ways of involving current members and attracting new ones, drawing on the best evidence from the study of social influence and social networking.”

“The Green Party turned an important corner last year,” reasoned Chris Robinson. “We were back on the ballot with a candidate for PA State Representative, and this year we are looking forward to having two excellent candidates on the ballot for local office: Kristin Combs for City Council Member at Large, www.combs4citycouncil.com, and Glenn Davis for City Commissioner,
https://m.facebook.com/GlennDavisforCityCommissionerPhiladelphiaPa.2015. Last year Green Party registration was up six percent, and we plan to do much better in 2015.”

Julian Robinson tendered these plans, “In the up-coming year, I would like the Green Party to be together in one accord to help strengthen this party. I will work with our team to help embellish our party and help it grow under the mentorship of Glenn Davis.”

The Green Party is an independent political party founded on the four pillars of nonviolence, grassroots democracy, ecological wisdom and social justice. For more information about the Green Party of Philadelphia, please telephone 215-243-7103 or email gpop@gpop.org.